The widespread popularity and consumer acceptance of computer networks such as the Internet has lead to a massive increase in the amount of information that such network transmit. In particular, the use of the Internet for commercial purposes has risen sharply over the past several years. Many types of mechanisms exists to support this exchange of information on computer networks. Examples of such information exchange mechanisms include the World Wide Web (i.e., web servers and browsers), Internet News (sometimes called USENET News), electronic mail (i.e., e-mail), instant message systems and other related software. Generally, the term “messaging system”, as used herein, is meant to include all of the aforementioned information exchange mechanisms that operate within a computer network environment.
Though the particulars of the operation of different types of conventional messaging systems may vary (e.g., e-mail might operate somewhat differently than an instant messaging system), such conventional systems typically allow an originator to send messages that can reach multiple recipients. More specifically, conventional messaging systems generally provide the ability for a user on a source computer system coupled to a computer network to operate client software that creates and transmits (i.e., sends) messages onto the computer network for receipt by one or more users of remotely located destination computer systems which are also coupled to the computer network.
Using e-mail as a specific example, a user controlling an originator computer system can operate an e-mail client program such as Microsoft Outlook on their computer system to create an e-mail message containing content. The user can select and/or designate one or more recipients who are to receive the e-mail message containing the content. The user can then operate their originator computer system to logon to or connect with a network service provider. The network service provider may provide, for example, a dial-up account or may provide a dedicated connection between the originator computer system and a computer network such as the Internet. Once the originator computer system is coupled to (i.e., is involved in data communications with) the network service provider, the user can operate the e-mail client program to transmit the e-mail message as an outbound message from their originator computer system through the network service provider onto the computer network for receipt by those recipients designated by the user.
In a typical implementation, the e-mail client program transmits the outbound e-mail message to an e-mail server program that operates on a computer system associated with the network service provider. The e-mail server program receives the outbound e-mail message from the originator computer system and forwards a copy of the outbound e-mail message to each recipient computer user specified within the e-mail message. Once the network service provider computer system forwards the e-mail messages onto the computer network for each recipient, data communications equipment within the computer network propagates the e-mail messages through the network to their respective proper destination computer systems based on destination addressing information within each e-mail message. Typically, the initial destination computer system for an e-mail message is a computer system associated with the network service provider that provides the user account associated with the recipient of the e-mail message. This destination computer system operates another e-mail server program (referred to herein as the destination e-mail server program). The destination e-mail server program receives the incoming e-mail message and buffers or stores the e-mail message until the recipient user connects (e.g., via a dial-up connection) his or her recipient user computer system (e.g., a personal computer at this user's home) to the destination e-mail server computer system to retrieve (i.e., to download) any e-mail messages stored on behalf of that user. In this manner, e-mail can be exchanged between computer users in an efficient and reliable manner.
Conventional messaging systems, and e-mail software systems in particular, provide certain mechanisms that can limit the amount of messages that can be received by a recipient. For example, certain conventional e-mail client software programs such as Microsoft Outlook can be configured to reject or “bounce” e-mail received from certain computer users who send such e-mail messages. As a specific example, suppose an e-mail recipient receives an unsolicited or unwanted e-mail message from a certain originating computer user or from a certain network service provider domain (e.g., the domain associated with a network service provider for which a user does not wish to receive e-mail). In such a situation, to prevent the recipient from receiving similar messages in the future, the recipient computer user can configure his or her e-mail client software program with a list of designated computer user accounts or network service provider domains from which that user does not wish to receive e-mail. If one of the designated computer user accounts or network service provider domains in this list attempts to send another e-mail message to this user in the future, the recipients e-mail client software program will reject the message.
In this manner, recipients of e-mail can limit the amount of unwanted or unsolicited messages that they receive. It may be desirable to limit the receipt of unsolicited e-mail using such conventional techniques because large amounts of these messages can clutter the electronic mailbox (e.g., the inbox) that the e-mail client software program provides on the recipients computer system.
Generally, with respect to messaging systems, the term “computer user” as used herein refers to a user name or login account name assigned to a user (e.g., a person) of a computer system that can perform messaging on a computer network. The term computer user may also include a realm or domain name associated with the user name or login account name. By way of example, a network service provider called XYZ Corporation may have a registered domain name or realm of “XYZ.COM” on the Internet. A person named Joe may have a dial-up account (e.g., an Internet access account) with this network service provider (e.g., an Internet Service Provider or ISP) and thus may have a computer user name of “JOE@XYZ.COM.” JOE@XYZ.COM may be a computer user who can both send and receive messages such as e-mail via his or her network service provider. In this case, JOE@XYZ.COM is also the e-mail address of this computer user name.
Returning again to the example of unsolicited e-mail messages, certain conventional media products can be purchased that contain large lists of computer user e-mail addresses. A specific example of such a media product might be a CD-ROM that contains hundreds of thousands of e-mail addresses of computer users on the Internet who can receive e-mail (i.e., active e-mail accounts). Suppose that the person operating the computer user account name JOE@XYZ.COM purchases such a CD-ROM product and uses the list of e-mail addresses encoded on the CD-ROM to send unsolicited e-mail advertisements (i.e., junk e-mail or spam) to each computer user recipient having an e-mail address encoded on the CD-ROM. There are certain conventional automated e-mailer programs that exist which can perform this task in a relatively effortless manner. This causes the network service provider (i.e., XYZ.COM) that supports (i.e., provides) the computer user account JOE@XYZ.COM to be the source of all of these unsolicited e-mail messages or spam. Using conventional e-mail client software programs, a recipient computer user who desires to no longer receive such unsolicited bulk e-mails or “spam,” either from JOE@XYZ.COM or from this particular network service provider, can configure his or her e-mail client software program (e.g., Microsoft Outlook) to reject future emails sent from either JOE@XYZ.COM or from the domain XYZ.COM.